A GROUP of three directors – ex-boss Walter Smith, chairman Malcolm Murray and one other – have grave reservations over Mather’s ties to deposed Charles Green. Despite the rift, it’s anticipated Mather will be appointed today.

THE war for the soul of Rangers Football Club – a brutal and bloody conflict first revealed in these very pages – has entered a critical phase.

By the middle of this week, when the smoke should begin to clear from the battlefield of the boardroom, we will see who has been left standing. And, just as importantly, who has fallen.

In the meantime, the first casualty – as is always the case in such gory matters – has been the truth.

Once again Rangers fans have been misled as to the true nature of this savage struggle for power.

Anyone with Rangers’ best interests at heart knows a solution must be found or the consequences for the ravaged club might be too terrible for fans to contemplate.

Already the club is being torn apart from the inside. Chief executive Charles Green may be yesterday’s man after standing down last week but he leaves behind a board in a state of disarray.

On one side of the divide stand Walter Smith, chairman Malcolm Murray and one other non-executive director.

On the other side are Brian Stockbridge – Green’s financial director – and the two remaining non-execs. One of them is Ian Hart, who became particularly close to Green after being appointed to the new board.

It’s up to the supporters to decide who they trust in all of this but it appears the Smith and Murray camp, as well as manager Ally McCoist, have huge concerns about the club’s executive management.

Yes, Green may be gone but his allies from Zeus Capital are still on the inside and they seem equally committed to standing their ground.

What happened in the aftermath of Green’s resignation on Friday points to what is going on behind the scenes.

First, it emerged that Craig Mather had been proposed to fill Green’s role on an interim basis with the possibility that will become permanent.

Then came word that accountants from Deloitte were fronting up an independent probe into Green’s affairs and, in particular, claims that the Yorkshireman was doing business with the club’s disgraced former owner Craig Whyte. Both of these issues are fundamental to just how this war is won. And by whom.

Mather’s emergence has raised the level of alert for Smith’s side. They suspect he was hand-picked by Stockbridge and Imran Ahmad, who are still in position despite Green’s removal.

Mather was described by Green as one of his founder investors. For a £1million payment, he was given the title of sporting director, overseeing Murray Park.

Nottingham-based Mather runs his own sports management firm. They focus on developing young players who may have been cast aside by clubs.

It’s understood earlier this season he put together a team of such kids for a match at Murray Park against an appropriately aged Rangers XI.

They were thrashed and sent home again, presumably much to Mather’s frustration.

Since then, he has hardly been spotted in or around the training ground and doubts have been expressed as to what he has been doing as sporting director. All of which makes his sudden re-emergence as a possible CEO more remarkable.

It’s anticipated Mather’s appointment will be pushed through, against opposition, this morning.

But the very fact that it was not simply rubberstamped during a scrambled board meeting on Saturday underlines the deep divisions at the club’s heart.

The appointment of Deloitte astonished Smith and McCoist in particular, given that Stockbridge, Ahmad and Green are strongly linked to that firm.

Let’s not forget they hired Deloitte to assist in their takeover of Rangers and in December’s share offer.

Given that the board had promised to launch an independent probe into the current state of the club there is disbelief that Deloitte – Green’s personal tax advisers – could be shoe-horned into the front line of any inquiry.

And Murray and Smith have identified another man for this critical job and one whose credentials – of being entirely independent – they believe to be above reproach.

As McCoist said on Saturday, they realise the need for the club to be seen to be cleaning up from the inside out.

If Rangers are to survive then, crucially, they must be seen to be fixing their own damage.

It’s not just the club’s fans who must be able to trust the men in charge but also the football authorities, who may feel as if they have been misled once too often over the last two years.

There is a danger that anything less will reek of a cover-up and, at this particular stage, that’s the last thing Rangers need to stand accused of.

Which is why Smith and Murray have lined up a Scottish businessman of impeccable standing to carry out this work. It is the Record’s understanding they want him in position by the middle of this week with carte blanche to carry out whatever inquiries he sees fit.

He could do worse than to start by demanding certain documentation from Stockbridge and Ahmad. Like solid proof of the current state of the club’s bank balance, for example, because although Rangers should have more than £20million in the account following December’s share sale, not even Murray has been given sight of the evidence.

There are many more questions which need to be answered, most importantly, who owns Murray Park and Ibrox?

Because if these assets belong to Whyte or to anyone else, then Rangers are facing another battle for survival.

The question now is, will Smith and Murray’s trouble-shooter be invited to head up the investigation?

Or will Mather’s expected appointment be forced through first to break the current deadlock?

The answers to the above will determine which direction this club are heading.